MY PAPER HEART

There are worse things
in life than failing out of college- such as having your parents receive
the letter that you’ve been kicked out.

Now to appease her parents
self-proclaimed sorority princess Libby Gentry is packing up her Prada
bag and heading to work for her great aunt’s antique store in tiny
Elsbury, Louisiana. She’s pretty sure she can tackle the swamp and deal
with her great aunt and tom boy of a little cousin, but what she
doesn’t know is if she can handle the local town playboy, Blaine
Crabtree.

As Libby's feelings for Blaine grow, so does her need
for acceptance and all of the insecurities she has kept inside are
coming out. She may have survived the Louisiana swamp, but she may not
survive Blaine's reluctance to say the 'L' word. When Blaine finally
commits to the three words Libby’s been waiting for, she only hopes they
haven’t come too late.

**This book does contain some mild language and sexual content. It is meant for upper YA readers**

Libby's story will reach the hearts of young women in many walks of life. She's lost, vulnerable, and drowning in the woes of a negative self-image. Until she's sent to Louisiana, as punishment for failing out of her first year of college, Libby doesn't know what it's like to be comfortable in her own skin. This coming-of-age story will captivate readers between its strong romance, tear-jerking moments, and everyday teenage worries.

The content of the novel is meant for upper YA readers, yet Vernon stays true to the teenage voice. When it comes to talk of sexual conduct, the characters speak in a way so as to not stray from the novel's intended audience. The language and content isn't too graphic for readers who enjoy mature themes in young adult fiction. One wish for this story is that Vernon delved a little deeper into Libby's tendency to purge food after eating. It's referred to throughout the novel, but the possible consequences weren't explored, leaving the situation slightly overlooked.

Readers will beg for more of Libby's growing personality and eccentric, but lovable, family. My Paper Heart is highly recommended!

Character chemistry is about much more than a pair of beautiful
blue eyes. (Though, a pair of beautiful blue eyes doesn’t hurt).

But how can a writer convey this? How can the reader FEEL the chemistry between the characters?

For
me, it’s all about the emotional attachment. Both characters have to
have something at stake, something that puts them together and tears
them apart at the same time.

I’m better with examples, so let’s review my own characters:

In
HOW TO DATE AN ALIEN, Alex is thrust into a situation in which she has
to work alongside aliens in an alien operations center. The first moment
she meets Ace is when he saves her life. If the gorgeous looks weren’t
enough he has the whole knight andshining armor thing going for him. But
what’s at stake for them? What makes them fall so head over heels for
each other that they are willing to possibly start an intergalactic war?

Well, first, there is Alex’s emotional investment in
Ace. He’s saved her life, he reads her blog, and he puts up with her
when she asks him if he’s wearing guyliner. Then let’s throw in the fact
that people don’t want them together, Alex literally is pulledaway from
him time and time again, but there is something that keeps drawing her
back. There’s that tug of the heart that shows how deeply rooted her
emotional attachment is to Ace with how he is the only one that can make
her feel comfortable whether she iswith humans or aliens.

Then we feel Ace’s attraction to her. It’s slow
building with little hints of flirting, but then it builds up until
there is a beautiful crescendo and he admits that after all the back and
forth bantering that he is falling in love with a human girl.

What is it about this chemistry that keeps us reading?
For me, what is at stake for the characters is what keeps me turning the
pages. Whether we know the two characters love each other or whether we
are holding our breath to see when they will actuallykiss, that back
and forth feeling keeps us on the edge of our seats and creates a
perfect wind of unpredictable chemistry.

Since this is the My Paper Heart blog tour, I GUESS I
can give a little teaser of a scene in My Paper Heart with a little bit
of character chemistry. Enjoy :)

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His hair was so
spikey and tousled that it almost looked curly or windblown. I wondered
what it would be like to run my fingers through it. If it would feel
like straw from baking in the summer sun all day or if it would just
slide like silk throughmy fingers.

"And that really didn't give me any information about you. If
you're going to man handle me, I should at least know your name. And if
you plan on doing it again you should really get me a drink first."

He laughed, exhaling a mouthful of smoke. His full lips almost made
an O shape as he laughed, bringing out the dimples that curved around
his lip line. "Alright, you got me there. I'm Blaine. Blaine who's lived
here all his life. Blaine the grunt forthe parish highway department."

"Well I didn't want your whole life story!" I squealed. I was
flirting. I couldn't help it, and he really was cute in an old faded
blue jeans sort of way.

I didn't think that I would ever date
a guy from Elsbury. He probably spent all day working and then going
home to watch car racing. He probably drove a big red truck and blared
Charlie Daniels. A guy like Blaine just didn't fit the description
ofguys that I was normally attracted to, but with every lingering gaze I
found myself wanting to know more about this southern boy.

"Yeah, well that ain't the half of it." He stopped and finished his
clove. I thought he was going to say something more, but then he looked
all around us. "Hey, where did your cousin go?"

"Hmm..? Oh, Brittany? I'm sure she is fine." I waved my hand in front of me before letting it fall flat.

"You
really are dense aren't you?" He flicked his clove off of the porch,
narrowing his eyes at me before he walked back inside with long, quick
strides.

I stormed after him, pushing past plaid shirted guys and tube top
clad girls. "What the hell? You're the one that dragged me outside
remember?" I turned Blaine toward me as we got into the living room,
trying to ignore how toned his biceps were. Ihad to resist the urge to
trace my fingers down them.

"You leave a fifteen-year-old girl alone at a party and expect
everything is just going to be alright?" He raised his voice. I didn't
like being told what I should be doing or being questioned by a guy I
barely knew. Especially a guy that had draggedme outside when I was
trying to chase after Britt in the first place.

"I'm sure she's fine, I mean she's the one who invited me to this
party!" I threw an arm out to the side. "And if it's so bad, then why
are you here?" I crossed my arms and smirked, trying to make my point.

"Because I am a nineteen-year-old man, not a fifteen-year-old girl
whose cousin just used her like a stripper pole!" He screamed that last
part, and headed off toward one of the bedrooms. Everyone was staring at
us. I put my head down and tried notto let everyone see how red I’m
sure my face was as I hurried to catch up with Blaine.

I caught up to him standing in an open doorway, and staring as he
leaned in on the door frame. A small crowd of people were positioned in
the room lit by only black lights and cluttered with posters of
psychedelic pink mushrooms and other brightly coloredplants. As the
cloud of smoke lifted I saw my little cousin, curled up on the corner of
an old wooden futon with a plastic cup in one hand and her mouth
wrapped around a giant green bong that was being lit by some guy with a
porn star mustache. I gasped, coveringmy own mouth in horror.

"Real responsible aren't we?" Blaine whispered as he headed back out toward the party.

"Hey
cuz!" Brittany giggled, letting out a huge cloud of smoke. "Want a
hit?" She held out the large green bong toward me. I had never smoked
pot and never planned to, but I wasn't a stranger to it. It wasn't like a
lot of Beau's fraternity brothersdidn't spend their time hitting the
bong.

I threw my arms down and stomped over to Brittany. "No I do not
want a hit! We are leaving!" I pulled her up off the couch, it was like
pulling dead weight, but I managed to get her up.

"Come on
girl! The party is just getting started, and I got a spot for you right
here." I looked down to see a Hispanic boy in a cowboy hat wiping his
mouth, suggesting that I should sit on it.

"Ew..." I wrinkled my nose in disgust and pulled Brittany out of the room.

"Oh
come on cuz, we were just having some fun!" Brittany laughed as she
chugged the contents of the cup down and then threw the empty cup on the
ground. She then turned to me with a serious glint in her bloodshot
eyes.

"You were probably having fun with Blaine anyways!" She pointed at me, staggering back and forth.

"Trust
me Britt. There is NOTHING going on with me and Blaine. I don't think
there is going to be any luck with guys for me in this entire parish." I
gritted as I pulled her toward the door.

About Magan:

Self-proclaimed geek-to-glam
poster child who channels her inner geek by writing science fiction for
teens, even though she slept with a night light until she was in middle
school for fear of alien attacks. She now lives with her husband,
daughter, and dog in central Illinois where she still sleeps with a
night light...just in case.